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Life goals 2017: February update

So it turns out that working really hard on your life goals leaves very little time to blog about them. At least that means I’m being productive! Here’s a quick update:

1) Apply for PhD

Done! PhD application is in. Putting the proposal together has taken so much work it might have been more stressful than my dissertation was! OK, maybe not, but the challenge with a PhD proposal is working out what you are going to do in advance. For my MSc I picked a topic, got a supervisor, then we started working. For the PhD I’ve picked a topic, research questions, experimental method, data analysis method, written an extensive literature review explaining why my research is important and unique, and described exactly how I’m going to do all the wonderful things I am promising. This is all stuff you need to do for an MSc dissertation too, however you generally get to work while you are on the course. This is just for an application!

But it’s done, the proposal is looking really strong and the academic staff supporting it are really pleased with what we’ve produced, so if I can at least get an interview I’ll be one up on last year ;).

2) Being healthy

Markie and I started the NHS weight loss plan, and we are doing really well sticking to it. We are also doing the Couch to 5K plan, running around the park by my work during lunch breaks. The NHS plan is calorie controlled. You work out what your ideal calorie intake should be (between 1400 to 1800 for me), and to lose weight you just stick near the bottom of the range. We’ve been doing this for about 6 weeks now and I have actually lost enough weight that my BMI is healthy, so I’ve just upped my calorie allowance to the middle of my range and am sticking with C25K. I’ve also ordered a replacement wii fit balance board to do some more stuff at home. So things are going pretty well with this life goal as well 🙂

3)Publish a book

OK, between spending lunchtimes running and evenings on my PhD proposal there’s not been any time left over to work on a book, but it’s fine. We were expecting this! We planned for it. I should really start working on it now, however I also have work to do to prepare for the PhD interview (even though I might not get one, because I don’t know how much notice I’m going to get!) so I’m still not sure how much time I’m going to have. I expect to get an email next week telling me when I’ll get an update on my application, so the next step will be to work out how long I have, what work I need to do, and how much time I have left over to edit the book. Hopefully it will be some! Of course if I don’t get an interview I will suddenly find myself with ample time for book editing in the spring…